Sticking carpet to MDF (floor) - any preperation required?

[gwynnethmary]

Hi!

First post so please be kind!

I have tried a search on diynot but can't find the answer to my question.

We are having a new carpet laid and as the sub floor wasn't fantastic, we have laid 6mm MDF across the entire floor to even it up. The carpet fitter is due sometime next week but before he comes to glue the new carpet down I just wanted to find out if there is anything we should be doing to the new MDF in terms of preparation?

I have asked the carpet fitter and he wasn't sure.

Has anyone got any suggestions?....

Thanks,

Gwynneth.

 

[lymmranger]

Hi,

...firstly I would be worried about a carpet fitter not knowing the answer to a simple question like that1

....secondly the answer depends on how you are intending to have the carpet fitted
-if traditional gripper and underlay is used then there is no need for any type of glue
-if you are having a felt back carpet fitted straight to the floor then the fitter should only need to use spray adhesive around the perimeter.

...does that help?

 

[gwynnethmary]

Sorry to mislead- it was the capet shop manager who wasn't sure if the glue will have an adverse effect on the MDF, as they nomally use plywood as a base for uneven floors. My question really concerns the effect of the glue, i.e. whether it would cause the MDF to soften over a period of time? We wondered if we should use a primer, such as thinned down wood glue first, before the carpet is fitted?

 

[lymmranger]

no - if you read my reply you will see that glue will either not be required or used sparingly - spray adhesive is solvent based so will not affect the mdf.

...and yes you should really have used plywood but I see no reason why it should cause you any real problems.

 

[crazydaze]

A water based adhesive spread on a fully stuck install would probably cause issues.

The chances of this being used on your install is slim to nil.

Like has been said, MDF should'nt be used in floor preperation, pre-wet hardboard or preferably 6mm Ply would be the more expensive but the correct way of treating uneven floorboard subfloors.

I would suggest that if you have any issues in the future with the stability of the MDF fitted in these conditions, please don't blame the carpet shop/fitters if you want them to fit to the pre-prepared MDF.

I'd be interested to know what the fitters say when they arrive, what did the estimator suggest on the measure/pre-inspection?

We are assuming here that your subfloor is wood i.e. boards, composition boards etc? and not Concrete???????